THE FREEDOM RIDERSEmily Andrzejewski

• President D. Eisenhower had to send an army to a school in Arkansas to make sure they were practicing school-integration

• Some African American students from a North Carolina University sat in the whites-only section of a store and refusing to leave until they were served

EVENTS LEADING UP TO FREEDOM RIDES

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• 1960 Supreme Court Ruling stated that segregation on buses and stations was unconstitutional; law was not being enforced

• The group led by James Farmer, set out on their first ride in protest to the poor execution of the new court order

• Wanted to tackle local laws and customs that demonstrated segregation/get America to start thinking about African American constitutional rights

• The original group consisted of about 13 people

WHY THE FREEDOM RIDES STARTED

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• expressed their rights that the Supreme Court gave them

-hoped that the federal government would help them when racist people acted violently against them• traveled through places to

protest where desegregation was ordered by the Supreme Court but wasn't followed out

• Sat in the white-only section of the bus station

• as they protested, they gained popularity in the media

HOW THEY WENT ABOUT MAKING A CHANGE

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• The Freedom Riders were presented before judges that were bias and didn’t bother to listen to their defense

• On only the first ride the group was attacked by an furious mob of people

• Police showed up late purposely while the group was being attacked by the KKK

• Alabama police broke their promise to protect the riders as they continued to protest

• The Freedom Riders were put in jail numerous times for doing nothing but demonstrating their rights

CHALLENGES

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• Many people sacrificed their lives for what they believed in

• Received support from the Kennedy Administration

• The Interstate Commerce Commission enforced law of desegregation in all interstate establishments

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RESULTS OF THE FREEDOM RIDES

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